Annual General Meeting 2010

Our Chairman, Graham Cox, opened the 49th AGM by welcoming the 47 members present.
The minutes of the 49th AGM were accepted without amendment.
There would be several changes to the Executive Committee for the year ahead.
Chris Byers and John Reed were standing down and were thanked for their more than useful contributions to the work of the Society. The new members were :
Ashley Clark, Kath Gill, Henry Lewis and Maureen Smith. That meant there were still vacancies available and anyone who would like to help without making
the commitment of committee membership would also be very welcome.

Treasurer John Pettman presented the year’s accounts which showed an increased balance despite a fall in subscriptions and a marked fall in Bank interest payments, to which there seemed to be no solution at present.

Rita Collet, for the Walking Group, reported a good year with good numbers on walks.
She always encouraged walkers to join the Society and they would be well-represented at the Annual Dinner.

Our Chairman then spoke about several issues across the town, particularly about traffic management, in view of a proposed new plan and associated consultation in which he was sure the Committee and membership would take an active part.

Under A.O.B. Concerns were raised about the lack of convenient public transport to
the new Estuary View medical centre. While members believed the facility was a
great positive for those able to access it, it was hoped some form of agreement could be reached between the various parties involved, to ensure those less mobile could also benefit more easily from the services on offer.
The ongoing Local Development Framework process was raised and the document currently being consulted on was praised as being of very good quality and Whitstable appeared to have avoided large-scale development. Any member interested in getting involved with the process could do so, either directly or through the Committee.

A discussion was then held about the Society’s role and whether any changes needed to be made in terms of scope and communications. Views were aired and it was widely agreed the Society’s broad range of subjects discussed in meetings and the various views given by experts in their fields who are invited to talk each month, reflect the mix of interests and activities the Society should be focused on. It was agreed that the Society needed to communicate its objectives and activities much better to the wider public and this would be be a key objective of the next year for the Committee. The possibility of moving meetings back to the Castle was discussed and a trial agreed. Moving meetings back to Tuesdays was also discussed but did not receive majority backing.

Our Chairman thanked members for their attendance and formally closed the meeting.